History Of The Clothes Hangers

You may rarely give it much thought, however did you realise there is hardly a product you use as much as your clothes hangers. Most of us use them 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. For many they lovingly support our clothing investment - often hundreds and thousands of dollars’ worth - some of our most prized possessions. This invention has given us the ability to evolve in today's consumerist society - enabling us to buy more precious clothing from our fashion conscious cities and storing them in our over crowded dwelling spaces.

So have you ever stopped to think where the clothes hanger originally came from? Who originally invented this humble little device? and when?

Whilst some historians believe that the third President of the United States, Thomas Jefferson, invented a crude predecessor to the coat hanger, it is widely believed that today’s coat hangers with the hook and shoulder shape was inspired sometime later following the invention of the coat hook by O.A. North of Connecticut, USA in 1869. So pretty recently really.

Early attempts to develop a coat hanger into a practical hanging device soon developed with a variety of patents being filed with the US patents office. This early device below appears like it could have been used in conjunction with the clothes hook.

However, in 1903 at the Timberlake Wire and Novelty Company in Jackson Mississippi an employee named Albert J. Parkhouse decided that the coat hook needed a firm evolutionary advancement. He took a simple piece of wire and shaped two ovals then twisted them together. He finished the contraption with a bent hook shape at the top which enabled the hanger to be hung over a bar. This was the first known design which most closely reflects the common wire coat hanger designs of today. This revolutionary hook design when used with a hanging bar, enabled many more clothes to be stored together in one place.

This started a revolution of design ideas over the ensuing decades. The more rigid variation of the design incorporated timber and further wire support struts to add strength and durability.

In 1932, Schuyler C. Hulett mounted cardboard tubes on the wire sections which supported the clothing in order to prevent excess wrinkling. You will often see this design used today when receiving your dry cleaning back. You will note how by 1932 the more modern wire hanger shape of today was in use.

In 1965, Gerhard Wieckmann filed a patent for a revolutionary new hanger that still had a wire hook, however used a new design wooden frame. This wooden frame was developed to minimise the creases in clothing caused by wire hangers and to increase the hanger’s robustness. Additionally, the wider wood shape would help overcome problems caused by cardboard tubes displacing from the wire hanger frames - a problem with its predecessor. This version of the hanger whilst slightly costlier would have a much greater lifespan. Other versions within this patent would also incorporate moldable foam which could provide the advantages of the wooden hanger, however at a lower cost.

In 1967, J.H Batts filed a patent for a moulded plastic hanger which would not only lower production costs but would increase the hanger’s durability - the contoured design enabled it to hold heavier items such as suit jackets and pants with greater sturdiness - whilst enabling garments to maintain their natural shape.?

With the proliferation of retail stores in the latter half of the 20th?century, coat hangers have seen a revolution from ugly device to sightlier display pieces which can incorporate retail brand names as part of their advertising.?

Through this time, in addition to broader and stronger structures, clothes hangers have evolved to incorporate clips, notches and pant bars in order to accommodate new clothing styles, preventing slippages and minimise creasing. Today hangers come in all manner of shapes and sizes in an attempt to balance budget, versatility, robustness and aesthetic appeal.

And in EISHO,our story began with some confusion and thoughts in the past work process of our co-founder Mr. Lu & Mr. Phillip.

As a leading enterprise with more than 30 years of production experience, serving Hermes, Dior, Adidas and other international well-known clothing brands for many years. Mr. Lu,as the head of EISHO, has some confusion when thinking about deep cooperation with customers:Our workers have the best producing technology, but why customers are still not satisfied with us? Why the requirements of customers are still difficult to be implemented in the actual production; After putting a lot of effort into new product development, why customers still think the products old and stale, unable to keep up with the rapid changes in the fashion industry...

Store designer Mr. Phillip worked for PVH, BESTSELLER and other international famous fashion garment groups in the past ten years, deeply understand that clothing stores are a direct place where a brand communicates with customers. So, every detail in the process of design must be carefully deliberated and considered by store designers and product designers, so that every consumer can intuitively feel the values conveyed by the brand and then have a better shopping experience. Phillip takes this view as his first goal when he works as s shop designer. However, the final display effects of the hangers and mannequins still brings him a lot of confusion.

In the process from store design to the final implementation, he always encountered similar confusion: the supplier could not provide the store he designed with the right products that could not only have the function of use but also match the display effect. The opening time of the store is approaching, but the display props cannot arrive at on schedule.

The fashion industry is changing with each passing day, in order to give customers a better experience, the design and display of stores need to be updated regularly, but the products provided by the supplier are still out of fashion...

These confusions let Mr. Lu hit it off with Phillip. Combining the over 30 years of professional experience of EISHO with Phillip’s unique understanding of the design industry, they build a new team, committed to build a good communication bridge between end-users and stores. To customize, design, develop and produce high quality hangers, mannequins and other clothing display props, and to better cooperate with the store display and improve consumers experience.

Till now, 33 years passed, it is the goal of EISHO to evolve the humble hanger further-taking it from laundry necessity to gorgeous home wardrobe centrepiece.

Here’s to our journey.